COVER FEATURE - SEPTEMBER 2004

KYLE COUNTS HIS BLESSINGS
A COOL RIG IS JUST ONE OF THIS YOUNG MAN’S MANY BLESSINGS

By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

His scars alone tell the story of what he’s been through. The mere fact that Kyle Van Hulzen is still with us is a miracle. The fact that he can walk and climb into his rig every day and drive down the road - that’s something that many would have believed might never happen again. Rolling a tractor into a canal three years ago and being pinned underneath it for hours, Kyle wasn’t expected to ever be “normal” again. But with a strong faith that deepened even more from this tragic experience, Kyle fought back and overcame all the odds. Today, you’d think he was just another punk kid who, at only 24 years of age, happens to own a beautiful truck.

Growing up in Artesia, California, Kyle came from a trucking family. His grandfather, his father and his uncle were all truck drivers. In 1969, Kyle’s dad started driving dirt trucks and quickly accumulated seven of them. Back then, the colors of all of his dad’s trucks were red, black and silver. And today, red, black and silver remain the signature colors of any truck that bears the name Van Hulzen on the door. Later, Kyle’s dad began hauling produce from California’s Central Valley to the L.A. Produce Market. Since it didn’t matter which end of the run he lived on, Kyle’s dad decided to move the family to the other end. In November of 1995, halfway through Kyle’s sophomore year in high school, they moved to Tulare.

Kyle graduated from high school in 1998 and immediately got his license and started driving a truck. But by then, he already had plenty of experience. When he was little, he used to sit on his dad’s lap and steer the truck down the road. At 13, he started driving on the highway by himself, and at the age of 15, his dad started making him shift his own gears. His first job was hauling milk. For a year, he drove from 3:00 PM to 3:00 AM every day, until he earned the privilege of driving days. When trucking would slow down, he’d switch over to field work until things picked back up. Everything was going fine until that fateful day in June of 2001.

The date was June 15th. It was late in the afternoon on a Friday and Kyle, trying to get his work done fast, got a little careless. He was doing field work - pulling a spray rig behind a tractor - when he got too close to the edge of a canal. The tractor’s front wheel began to slide into the canal and then caught an edge, causing the tractor to roll over and tumble into the twelve-foot deep canal. Kyle ended up pinned underneath the tractor for two and a half hours as rescue workers struggled to get it off of him. The weight of the tractor crushed three of the four major muscles in his upper left leg and broke his pelvis.

When muscles are crushed, they release an enzyme called Creatine Phosphokinase (CPK) into the bloodstream. At normal levels (35-190 units per liter), the enzyme is not dangerous. Shortly after arriving at the hospital in Visalia, the doctors did a CPK count and found Kyle’s numbers to be higher than they had ever seen before. His CPK count was 137,000 units per liter. At elevated levels, the CPK becomes toxic, and at the level Kyle was at, it can be deadly. Pure poison was pumping through his veins. This caused his kidneys and liver to completely shut down and put him on dialysis for two long months. Early on, his prognosis wasn’t good. The doctors weren’t even sure he would survive.

In the beginning, the doctors gave him a 50/50 chance of surviving. Then, after repeated infections had set into his leg, the doctors discussed removing it with Kyle’s parents (he found out about that later). Then, the doctor’s said he’d never walk - but he did. They also said that he would never drive a truck again, but, once again, they were wrong. Driving with him during the photo shoot, we quickly realized that not only could this young kid drive, but that he could drive awesome. We asked him to back his tractor/trailer into some pretty tight places, and he did it no problem. Needless to say, we were very impressed. It just goes to show that doctors do not know everything, nor are they always right.

Kyle was at the hospital in Visalia for 13 long weeks, and then he was transported down to Los Angeles to undergo surgery on his pelvis. After 13 weeks of healing crooked, the doctors in L.A. cut the partially-healed bones apart and then reconnected them, straight, with twenty stainless steel screws. He spent eight days at the hospital in Los Angeles, and then was in a wheelchair for eight weeks. With the help of extensive physical therapy, he eventually upgraded to a walker, then to a cane (his custom-made cane was a piece of billet aluminum with a Peterbilt shift knob on the end).

Today, Kyle is considered to be 46% handicapped, but that doesn’t stop him - or even slow him down. Aside from a slight limp, with long pants on, you’d never know he ever had an accident. In fact, his limp more resembles the way “cool” guys sort of shuffle as they walk, more than it does a limp. Kyle carries a credit-card-sized, laminated copy of an X-ray of his pelvis with him at all times (just in case he sets off a metal detector or needs to prove his injury). Since damaged muscles do not grow back like some tissues, Kyle’s leg obviously does not look like a “normal” leg. In fact, it is not much more than his bones with some skin over them (plus the one muscle that remained intact). It is truly a wonder that he can walk at all, never mind almost normal.

The entire ordeal took a year of his life away, but the way he looks at the rest of his days now is totally different than before. Growing up in a Christian home, attending Christian schools and regularly attending church his entire life, Kyle had a strong system of beliefs. But nothing will set those beliefs in stone forever like a near-death tragedy and then a full recovery. Kyle’s testimony of faith was good before, but now, people really listen. God has a way of turning bad things that happen to us into powerful, usable things if we recognize the fact that He was the source of the “miracle” and give Him all the credit. And that is what Kyle does. He believes that the power of God was proven through his recovery, and tells his testimony to anyone who’ll listen. Kyle and one of his buddies are even considering handing out Bibles at some of the truck shows.

After recovering from the accident, Kyle went back to work driving a truck (he now has to take and pass a special DOT evaluation test every two years). In a very short time, because he works so hard, he saved up enough money to consider buying a house. He still lived at home and thought it might be time to get his own place. But, after really thinking about it, he figured why not use the money to buy his own truck, then let the truck earn the money to buy the house. So that is what he did.

In November of 2003, Kyle ordered a brand new 2004 Peterbilt 379 in black with a red frame. Wanting some good power, but not wanting to pay too much, he opted for the Cat C-15 engine with a twin turbo and 475 horsepower, 3.55 rears and a 252-inch wheelbase. After taking delivery in April of 2004, he had the guys at Golden State Peterbilt add the red and silver paint, as well as ghost flames on the front fenders.

Wanting the truck to look like an old-style Pete from the early 1970’s, he swapped out the factory headlights with a set of double rounds and then had the fender brackets and steps powdered-coated black. He also had the air cleaners painted red and the visor painted black. He kept the stacks at 5-inches and installed a set of old-style Stemco hub covers that he found on a 1964 Pete in a junk yard, which he painted red to match. For better clearance, he went with a 16-inch bumper, small fuel tanks (painted red), and he raised the battery boxes a couple inches. Mostly for show, but useful too, Kyle added some tank steps that he found on a 1980 Pete. He also setup his cab lights to emulate an older truck by grouping three green lights together in the middle and putting one amber light on the outside edge of each side of the cab’s roof. To finish off his 1970’s look, he cut two large diamonds out of a sheet of aluminum and slipped it behind his grille. In the old days, truckers would paint the diamonds on their shutters, but, having a new truck, Kyle didn’t have that option. When it gets hot, he can remove the sheet of aluminum to allow more air to flow to the radiator.

Running as an owner operator with his own authority, Kyle delivers feed to dairies and ranches in and around the Central Valley in a 44-foot Western belt floor trailer. To avoid the heat and the crowds, he does much of his hauling in the early morning hours before the sun comes up. He tries to do five loads a day, but sometimes he does more, sometimes he does less. Both Kyle’s father and brother also haul feed.

Kyle looks forward to meeting his future bride sometime soon, getting married and having kids. He’d love to buy a piece of property and build his own house someday (of course, he would have a huge shop out back). As excited as Kyle is about owning this truck, he is more excited to become a husband and father. But for now, he’ll just keep working, saving money, going to church and spreading the Good Word. Kyle is proud of his many accomplishments, but considers them all blessings and gifts from God.

In a time when no one seems to have enough courage to stand up for what they believe in for fear of ridicule and persecution, this young man, with the help of some divine intervention, stands firm and unwavering in his faith and convictions. And at only 24 years old, it’s going to take a lot more than a tractor to hold Kyle Van Hulzen down.